To form individual electronic devices from a semiconductor wafer, various electronic circuitry can be formed on a front side of the semiconductor wafer. The electronic devices can be arranged in a grid-like pattern on the semiconductor wafer. In order to separate, e.g., singulate, the devices, the semiconductor wafer can be diced by various means.
One method of dicing a semiconductor wafer is to cut through the wafer from the front side, e.g., the side on which electronic devices are formed, with a rotating saw blade. However, using a saw blade in such a manner can have various processing limitations. For example, the width of the saw blade reduces the overall usable area of the semiconductor wafer. Furthermore, sawing through a semiconductor wafer can cause microcracks near the edge of the saw street, which may propagate and at least partially cause a failure for some electronic devices formed near the edges of saw streets.
Some methods for semiconductor wafer processing include forming test circuits in areas of the wafer that will be used as saw streets during singulation. These testing circuits can be probed to help determine whether certain of the electronic devices formed on the wafer are functioning properly.